The long-standing rift between Floriana and Valletta has been further gashed by the New Year’s Eve celebrations in the neighbouring localities as their silent opposition to each others’ events emerges.

During yesterday’s post-mortem of the first-time festivities in the capital by its organisers, the Valletta local council said no permit should have been granted for the closure of Floriana’s St Anne Street to traffic on the night, one of the main reasons for the transport chaos that ensued, it maintained.

It said the Floriana local council had alternative venues, such as the Granaries, for its own New Year’s Eve event, and it was a “mistake” to allow the closing of a main artery into the city given that Valletta was holding another mass event.

“God forbid an emergency vehicle was required on site,” the Valletta local council said in view of the traffic congestion after the party.

The “attack” sparked the outrage of the Floriana local council, which said it was “unheard of” that the organisers were shifting the blame for the transport problems – the public was stranded at the terminus, without a bus in sight – onto their neighbouring council.

Floriana mayor Nigel Holland said they should have the responsibility to face the criticism that poured in instead of creating a “greater rift between the communities”, which he considered shameful.

Mr Holland revealed he had always opposed the organisation of a competing event in a neighbouring council, considering it “unfair”. But he had tackled the matter “seriously, unlike Valletta, and without making a show of it” to avoid fuelling the known rivalry between the two neighbours.

Wanting to secure attendance and even increase it the second time round, as soon as he got wind of the Valletta plan as far back as May, Mr Holland said he approached the relevant authorities to highlight his opposition.

Mr Holland said Valletta had organised an event that went against local council directives, which insisted on no competing events on the same day. That the Valletta council then proceeded to complain about an initiative that had preceded its own was “going a bit too far”.

Floriana was the first to hold a New Year’s Eve event to usher in 2010, believing the country was “the most monotonous on earth” for not having its own celebrations.

Mr Holland said that “if it were the other way around, Valletta would have been 100-per-cent right. But we were the first”, an argument that was earlier discarded by the Valletta organisers who said no one was reinventing the wheel and every capital city worldwide organised New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Valletta mayor Alexiei Dingli said the Floriana council had been approached to collaborate on the events but it had refused, causing logistical problems. He maintained both localities would benefit from working together.

Mr Holland denied refusing an invitation to cooperate, saying he immediately advised Dr Dingli not to proceed with his event.

At a meeting two months ago, Mr Holland asked his Valletta counterpart to suggest a way of collaborating that would ensure his event would not suffer but no ideas on how to organise a joint event were forthcoming.

Valletta’s New Year’s Eve party received mixed reviews but for the organisers it could only be described as “positive”, with most feedback being good, particularly as regards the quality entertainment.

The event showed it was wanted by the public, so much so it would be held annually from now on, with some tweaking to iron out any mistakes.

The transport issues constituted the only complaint, Dr Dingli said, identifying three factors that contributed to it: the mass exodus, typical of New Year’s Eve events; the closure of roads due to other activities; and the fact that public transport did not operate with its full complement.

For the next party, the plan was to spread activities beyond St George’s Square, where the stage was set up, said Owen Spiteri from G7, event co-organisers.

Although bars ran dry before the clock struck midnight and long queues formed outside kiosks, business for restaurants was even better than Notte Bianca and, for some, their best night ever, while those that chose not to open regretted their decision.